I become more and more convinced of the
importance of hiding God's word in our hearts. This was brought to
mind again yesterday as I was teaching of Jesus'
temptation by Satan from Luke 4. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to come face to face with Satan. Three times Jesus comes against
Satan's temptations with quotes from the Old Testament. This gives
us an example directly from our Savior, who was tempted in every way
as we are, yet without sin, how we are to come against the
temptations we face. Ephesians 6:11 tells us. “Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of
the devil.” A very important piece of that armor is “the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Another reason for being
in God's word and knowing it is to be able to come against the lies
of Satan, discouragement, and despair with the truths of the word.1
Corinthians 10:5 says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty
opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought
captive to obey Christ...” The Holy Spirit uses God's word to
convict us of sin and bring us to repentance. Hebrew 4:12 says, “For
the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and
of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
God's word gives us guidance. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and
a light to my path,” Psalm 119:105. We go to God's word daily for
comfort, assurance, peace, and strength.
Finally, I love the
admonition and promise in Joshua 1:8, “This book of the Law shall
not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and
night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is
written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then
you will have good success.” Spend time in God's word this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment